The One Where Everyone Finds Out About Rayllum
by Kammie Celeek
Summary: After being in a relationship for three months, it's getting harder for Callum and Rayla to hide it.
1. The One Where Friends Find Out

**Somehow ended up watching a couple clips from "Friends" that inspired this.**

** Enjoy.**

* * *

Really, the signs had been there for a while, Soren realized.

For starters, Callum had begun spending quite a few nights coming back to the apartment late at night or in the wee hours of the morning (as Rayla put it). His scarf, which Soren had rarely seen him without since he'd received the damn thing as a present, went missing sometimes for a few days at a time before reappearing around his roommate's neck… which now often had small red or purple marks on it in positions that Soren knew meant Callum had been seeing someone. And he'd figured that had been the case; he just hadn't had any idea as to _who_ that someone could possibly be.

That is, until now.

Now he'd walked into their shared apartment to find a shirtless (but thankfully not braless) Rayla making out with an equally-shirtless Callum in a chair. She was straddling the brown-haired man in a way that Soren could tell meant this was _far_ from the first time that they'd done this. And that was to say nothing of the fact that Callum—awkward, sweet, goofy, gentlemanly Callum—had his hands firmly on Rayla's ass and was squeezing it through her jeans.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Rayla fell off Callum with a yelp, the chair falling over from the force of Callum jerking backwards and causing him to spill onto the floor. His green eyes met Soren's blue, a look of guilt and slight panic to them as Rayla retrieved a shirt (Callum's, Soren noted) from the floor and ran into the bathroom. Soren heard the door slam shut behind her and the lock click. She definitely wasn't coming out of there for a while.

"H-hey, Soren," Callum greeted him nervously. "You, uh, you're home! Early!"

"You—what the hell did I just walk in on?!"

"Look, just… just calm down and we'll explain… as soon as I convince Rayla to come out of the bathroom."

"Nuts to that! I've got to tell Claudia!"

Before Soren could even get halfway back to the door, Rayla was out of the bathroom and she'd tackled him to the floor like she had the first time he'd scoffed at her trying to join a football game he and some of his buddies were setting up for fun.

"Ow! Ow! Watch the face!"

"Let us _explain_," Rayla insisted. Callum had disappeared.

"Okay, okay, just let me up!"

She did just that and forcefully led him to the couch, blocking his exit. Callum reemerged from his bedroom wearing a simple T-shirt and his scarf.

"So… how long has this been going on?" he asked.

"Remember our trip to the Oasis?" Callum replied sheepishly. "Um… since then."

"That was three months ago—what the hell, you two?!"

"We wanted ta keep it between us fer a while," Rayla spoke up.

"Let me get this straight—for the past three months, you two have been sneaking around behind _everyone's_ backs to hook up? What kind of friends-with-benefits—"

"It's not like that. We're _together_ together." Callum crossed his arms.

"Oh my God…" Soren looked shell-shocked. "You've been dating…"

"Three months. Don't need ta repeat it."

"And _nobody else_ knows?! Like, not even Ezran?!"

"Nope," Callum confirmed. "We just wanted to enjoy it without all the fuss that would come from it."

"Oh… okay. But you can't do it forever."

"We're planning to start telling people soon. It's just… kind of fun to sneak around."

"Wow. I can't believe you hid this from Claudia, too."

Callum shrugged and kissed Rayla on the cheek.

"You should probably head home. We're clearly not getting the alone time we thought we were."

Rayla rolled her eyes and nonchalantly stole his scarf from around his neck.

"I'll be holdin' onta this until next time, then."

"I'll get it back from you. Love you."

The door closed behind the elf and Soren still looked shocked.

"Please tell me that you're not going to tell Claudia," Callum sighed.

"She's got to know eventually! Rayla _lives_ with her!"

"I know, okay? But it's especially sticky territory because Rayla's an elf and I'm a human and blah blah blah. People aren't just going to accept it like you do."

"Uh, I haven't accepted it because I just almost saw a completely topless Rayla making out with my roommate in the chair I use for playing video games, which I now have to disinfect by the way."

"That's fair. Just don't tell Claudia or Ezran or anybody else."

"No problem as long as you two keep it in your room and don't do anything out here."

"Deal."

The two shook hands and Callum sighed. Soren then noticed fresh bruises up and down his neck.

"Damn. How did _all of us_ miss this?!"

"Dunno, but I'm glad Rayla and I got to just be quietly together for a while."

Soren shrugged and went to grab some disinfectant.

* * *

"Use _Agi_!"

"I don't think it's weak to fire, Ez!" Callum pressed the button on his controller and the monster onscreen fell to the ground as it was hit by gunfire. Callum's little party surrounded the beast and beat the crap out of it, the battle end-screen depicting his character and the words _SHOW'S OVER_.

"And it's dead!" Ezran whooped.

"What are you dorks doin'?" Rayla asked, entering with bags of groceries.

"Playing a few rounds of _Persona 5_," Ezran replied. "Callum sucks at it."

"I do _not_. I'm not used to it like you are. There's a lot to remember."

Ezran shrugged and went over to the counter.

"What'd you get?"

"Stuff fer dinner. Callum suggested the three of us hang out while Soren and Claudia are out of town."

"Um… are you cooking?" Rayla raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"I… can Callum cook instead?"

"Hm… I would be offended by that if I weren't the worst cook in our little group here. So yeah, he can cook instead and I can give this game a go."

"Cool! Callum, you okay with that?"

"Yes. Definitely." He stood up and went into the kitchen, leaving the controller on the chair and beginning to help Rayla put the groceries away. Ezran went to go save the game and set up a file for Rayla.

"I'm pretty sure the other reason ya wanna cook is because of what happened last time."

"You burned _water_. How do you do that?!"

"It's not my fault I'm a lousy cook!"

"Right. I know that. It just means I'll have to cook for you for the rest of your life. I don't mind, though."

Rayla giggled, then pulled on Callum's scarf, bringing him into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, deepening the kiss slightly.

"Uh… guys…?"

They both remembered Ezran was still in the room.

And that he had no idea they were in a relationship.

_Fuck._

Looking up, they saw Ezran staring at them with a wide-eyed look of confusion.

"Last time I checked, you two didn't do stuff like that—what happened?"

"Oh… sorry, Ez," Callum chuckled nervously. "Um, yeah, so this is a thing now."

He gestured between himself and Rayla while she covered her face in embarrassment. Ezran glanced between them, then his mouth dropped.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?"

"Yeah, we're together."

"That's… that's awesome!" Ezran's blue eyes lit up. "This means that Rayla's going to be my sister for real one day!"

"E-Ezran!"

He started laughing as Callum started sputtering about how they hadn't gotten anywhere near that far yet and that it was a long way off if it _was_ on the horizon. Rayla laughed right along with Ezran, finally shutting her boyfriend up by kissing him.

* * *

Something was going on with Rayla. That much was obvious.

Claudia had begun rooming with Rayla right out of college when the elf had permanently moved to Katolis and needed a place to live after leaving the dorms. It had been at Ezran's insistence that Claudia let Rayla move in, despite the bad blood between the two girls. Once they'd gotten past the whole 'dark magic' debacle, they'd become best friends who always had each other's backs. That friendship had been solidified when they'd tag-teamed a couple of drunk wannabe playboys at a party one night who'd been trying to get with them. Since then, Claudia and Rayla didn't keep secrets from each other, especially when it came to their love lives and who they were dating. These past three months had been weird because of Rayla hiding something.

She sighed as she entered the apartment and hung her keys on the hook by the door. Her job had sent her on a small trip to go speak at a conference in Duren, a conference that had ended a day earlier than expected. She hadn't called when she was on her way home because she wanted to surprise everyone. Now it was time to surprise Rayla.

Approaching her roommate's door, she was surprised to hear Rayla giggling. Claudia furrowed her brow. Rayla wasn't a giggler. Even if she was watching something hilarious, she'd laugh out loud and laugh hard. Curious, Claudia pressed her ear to Rayla's door.

_"…tickles!"_

_ "You're so cute when you giggle, though."_

Callum. That was _Callum's_ voice.

_What the actual fuck?!_

_ "I don't do cute, Mr. Mage. I only do badass and sexy."_

_ "You can be pretty cute when you wanna be, though."_

_ Holy fuck. What is going on?!_

Claudia was tempted to burst in and figure this out, but she held herself back. Her mind was screaming that she _did not want to see what was going on in there_.

_"That being said, you can be pretty sexy, too."_

That was it. Rayla and Callum were definitely in some kind of relationship. She didn't know if it was romantic or just friends-with-benefits, but they were together in some way, shape, or form.

She was hyperventilating now, backing away from the door and dashing into the kitchen. Claudia did her best to make it look like she hadn't just been listening at Rayla's door and took a deep breath.

"I'm home!" she announced.

Listening carefully, she heard a _thump_ in Rayla's room and a yelp that was clearly Callum's. She wanted to burst out laughing; it was such a Callum move to fall when startled. But she kept her composure as Rayla came out of her room and shut the door behind her.

"Hey! You're back… early!"

"Yep. I wanted to surprise everyone!" Claudia smiled broadly. "So, any idea where we should all go to dinner?"

"Um… why don't ya ask yer brother? I bet he'll have some ideas!"

_Ooh, you want to get Callum out of here before I see him… clever…_

"I guess I can. See you, Rayla!"

Claudia left the apartment and crept into Soren and Callum's, noticing her brother wasn't there as she used the spare key he'd given her. Inside, she sat down and tried to process before Callum entered.

"Hey, Claudia!" he greeted her.

"Hey, Callum. You have any idea where Soren is?"

"None at all. I've got some work to do, so I'll talk to you later."

Claudia bit the tip of her thumb as Callum disappeared into his room.

_AGH WHY IS THIS A SECRET?!_

She would hold onto it… for now, at least…

* * *

By the time she came back to the apartment, there was no sign Callum had been there at all. Rayla was sitting on the couch watching a movie, or sitting with a movie on; her eyes were glued to her phone, where Claudia could see she was texting somebody.

"So, Soren suggested that place you went with your dads last time they came to visit—the place with the best moonberry surprise in Katolis?"

"Oh, right," Rayla said, setting down her phone. "I could eat there."

"Who are you texting?"

"Nobody."

"Are you sure?"

"Who would I text? I have maybe four friends—you, Soren, Callum, and Ez."

"Hm… I'm pretty sure I can _guess_."

"Be my guest, then."

"All right!" Claudia tapped her chin. "Here's my guess: it's Callum and you two are flirty-texting."

Rayla's limbs moved of their own accord as her arms flew up and her eyes widened.

"How the hell—"

"I came home earlier and heard you two in your room." Rayla's face turned bright red as she covered it with her hands. "Aw, it's _cute_! Callum's had a crush on you since that time you flipped him when he snuck up on you in the hall."

"No he hasn't!"

"I think he's just into girls who can kick his ass, in which case you definitely fit the bill. He's not the _best_ you could do—"

"Shut yer mouth! Callum is amazin' and I love him!"

Rayla gasped and covered her mouth.

"Hook, line, and sinker—I knew it! You and Callum are dating!"

Defeated, Rayla hung her head in shame.

"Yeah. Yeah, we are."

"How could you keep this a secret?"

"Well, there's a lot of logistics ta go through since he's human and I'm an elf. And we just kinda wanted ta enjoy it ourselves fer a bit."

"Aw, cute!" Claudia grinned. "So… do your families know?"

"Nope. I'm puttin' off tellin' Mum, Dad, Runaan, and Ethari as long as possible. Ya know how they are. I had ta twist their arms just ta let me move in with ya. How are they gonna take me—their only daughter—bein' with a human?"

"Fair. And Callum's family?"

"He's been chompin' at the bit ta tell his folks about us." Rayla's face turned pink again. "Ez, uh, found out by accident. We kissed without realizin' he was there."

Claudia burst out laughing, falling over the couch and landing so her hair was dangling on the floor. Rayla started laughing, too, then tipped over Claudia's legs and making the girl land on the wood below.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"_That_ was fer eavesdroppin' on me and Callum!"

"Fair enough, I guess." Claudia accepted the hand Rayla extended to help her back to her feet. "So, dinner?"

"You aren't gonna tell anyone, are ya?"

"Me? No. Does anybody besides Ezran know?"

"Soren does. He walked in on us… makin' out. Neither of us had a shirt on but I had my bra."

"Oh, poor Sor-Bear."

"I threw on a shirt and tackled him before he could run over her ta tell ya."

"Noted. Let's get going for dinner so I can rub it in his face."

Rayla rolled her eyes as she and Claudia headed out.

_Three down. Just the parents to go…_

* * *

**TWO-SHOT BITCHES**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


	2. The One With Rayla's Family

**Decided to split the meet-the-parents into two parts. Part one is a **_**very**_** late Thanksgiving special featuring Rayla's family and part two is a very late Christmas special featuring Callum's. Hope you all don't mind the split!**

** Here we go!**

* * *

"They know I'm coming, right?"

"Callum, of _course_ they know. Just calm down."

"You said that Runaan can't stand humans. What if he decides I'm not good enough for you and wants you to move back home?"

"Callum…" She let out an exasperated sigh as he drove the rented car towards her childhood home in the Silvergrove.

"I can't take that!"

"Callum, calm down or we'll crash and never get there."

"Right. Right." He took a deep breath.

"You will always be good enough for me. And I'm not gonna move back home. I moved ta Katolis because it felt right, and I'm with you because it feels like it's where I'm meant ta be. We're gonna be fine. Turn left."

Rayla watched her boyfriend as he turned onto the street she'd grown up on. She could see people she'd known her entire life going about their days as she counted the houses like she always did when she came home. Eventually, she signaled for Callum to turn into a driveway that already had two cars in it. They got out of the car, Rayla gripping his hand as they approached the door and she knocked. It opened to reveal her mother.

"Rayla!" Tiadrin hugged her only child. "Welcome home!"

"Hi, Mum."

"Katolis has been good to you, I see."

"Yeah, well, walkin' everywhere will do that." Tiadrin's eyes turned to Callum, who smiled nervously. "Mum, this is Callum, my boyfriend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McCloud." Callum stuck out his hand to shake hers.

"And the same ta you. Come on inside."

Callum let out a sigh of relief and Rayla elbowed him slightly.

Inside, she could see Ethari and Lain already doing their annual prep for the next day's dinner and dessert while Runaan was doing some sort of last-minute papers for work. In other words, a normal McCloud family Thanksgiving. Lain immediately enveloped his daughter in a hug as soon as he saw her. Callum got a firm handshake from both Lain and Ethari. From Runaan he got nothing but a 'how dare you sully this house, human' type of look, which, honestly, was better than he expected.

_So far so good…_

"I've set up yer old room fer ya," Tiadrin told her daughter. "But I'm afraid we don't have anywhere fer Callum."

"It's fine," Callum replied. "I can just sleep on the couch or something. I'm the one who butted in, after all."

Tiadrin's eyebrows flew up in surprise; clearly she'd been expecting him to demand to sleep in Rayla's room, not be so agreeable to what she'd been about to propose. It was Rayla who protested, however.

"Callum can sleep in my room. It's not that big a deal."

Runaan muttered something to himself and Tiadrin shot him a glare. He shrugged in response while Rayla led Callum down the hall.

Opening the door did not show the kind of room Callum expected. Actually, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. But it certainly wasn't what he saw.

The walls of Rayla's childhood bedroom were painted a soft lavender and covered in posters for various bands he knew she listened to from time to time. Stuffed animals lined the shelves along with books and movies that he knew she loved. Without missing a beat, she sat down on her bed and pulled him down with her.

"I don't think Runaan likes me."

"He doesn't."

"Oh, good to know, since I'll be here for a couple of days."

"Relax. I'm sure things will go fine. If he tries to kill ya, I can defend ya." She kissed him on the cheek. "Now, how about I take ya ta explore my hometown? You've always wanted ta come ta Xadia, right?"

"Yeah. You sure it'll be all right?"

"Positive. I'll just let them know we're leavin' and we'll be back."

* * *

Tiadrin whirled around to glare at Runaan as soon as Rayla and Callum had left.

"Ya can't be civil with him?" she asked.

"He's a human, Tiadrin. Nothin' good comes from humans."

"He seems respectful enough," Ethari pointed out, trying to intervene. "Not ta mention Rayla is an adult now and she can make her own decisions."

"This is one I can't agree with."

"Maybe we just need ta get ta know him better," Lain suggested. "If Rayla trusts him, it's worth a try."

"Hmph." Runaan crossed his arms. "She barely mentions anythin' about her life in Katolis."

"And this is probably why. Ya never wanted her ta move there in the first place."

"Neither did any of you."

"But we let her go," Tiadrin argued. "And she still speaks with us."

Runaan sighed, finally capitulating for now.

"If he does anythin' ta hurt her—"

"Then we'll all track him down and make him pay," promised Lain. "But I don't think he's gonna. We just need ta give him a chance."

* * *

Dinner that night was a fairly decent affair. Runaan glared at Callum throughout the meal but Rayla shot glares right back at her uncle. After all she'd learned from the best and she wasn't going to back down. Her parents and Ethari tried to get to know Callum better both during and after dinner, asking him all sorts of questions about his life and subtly probing him about his and Rayla's relationship.

"I have ta ask, how do ya feel about Rayla bein' able ta beat ya in a fight?" Ethari spoke up. "It's nothin' too personal, is it?"

"No, it's not. I've never really been good at fighting or anything like that. Actually, the first time we met was during freshman year. She was walking ahead of me in the hall and I noticed she seemed a little lost, so I tapped her on the shoulder and she grabbed my wrist and slammed me into the floor."

Tiadrin covered her mouth and Rayla could tell she was laughing.

"I know it sounds cheesy and stupid, but I think I started falling for her right there."

"You did _not_!" Rayla snapped, smacking him lightly on the arm. He laughed a little and Runaan scoffed.

"Oh, wait, you should see her when she's sparring with my roommate, Soren. She's the only person I've ever seen who can lay him out flat, other than my aunt and my mother, of course."

"Speakin' of them, the two of ya are spending Christmas with yer family, right?" Lain inquired.

"We are," Rayla replied. "We figured he'd meet you all first then I'd meet his family at Christmastime."

"If you're still together then…" Runaan muttered, not realizing he was speaking aloud.

He received a glare from nearly every other person at the table.

"I apologize. That was rude."

"What's sad is that we're used to it," Callum sighed. "Most people don't seem to approve of us being together."

"It's dumb," snapped Rayla, rolling her eyes. "Everyone's entitled to a stupid opinion, I guess…"

Runaan swallowed. Him acting like he had towards Callum likely hadn't helped Rayla's feelings on the matter. He needed to be mindful that they'd already faced more than enough backlash when it came to their relationship. They didn't need any more from people they cared about and it sounded like Callum's family had more than welcomed the idea of having Rayla join them. If he didn't help do the same for Rayla, she'd likely cut ties with him and that sat more ill with him than the idea of having a human in the family.

"Besides, if things go well, she'll be the second elf to join the family," Callum added.

"Second?" Tiadrin questioned.

"My aunt Janai was the first when she married my aunt Amaya. My mother is very enthusiastic to meet Rayla at Christmastime in person."

"Your mother sounds like a good woman," Ethari commented.

"She is. She's the one who always told me to avoid dark magic and it's because of her that I think I was able to connect with the Sky arcanum."

Runaan suddenly felt much better about this boy. Maybe he was better than he thought…

* * *

Once dinner was over, Rayla shooed her boyfriend off to the living room while she helped both sets of her parents clean up from the meal. He sat down on the couch with his sketchbook and pencils, only looking up to catch a glance of those who were in the kitchen. Runaan was dying to know what the boy was drawing but he refrained from peering into what was likely an incredibly private item. Eventually, Callum looked satisfied and Rayla went over to see what he'd done, nodding in agreement.

"Since we're not going to be here for Christmas," Callum stated with a smile, "I decided to make you all a present early. It's not much, but I thought you'd like it."

He held up his sketchbook and Tiadrin gasped.

The drawing was a beautifully-done family portrait. Every face was in loving detail, and Rayla's especially to the point where Runaan knew that this was _far_ from the first time Callum had drawn her.

"It's not finished yet. I'm probably going to add a lot of color."

"It's beautiful," Ethari assured him. "Rayla, you didn't tell us he was an artist."

"I figured you all would find out. He spends enough time drawin' me." Callum's cheeks burned pink and he chuckled nervously.

"Rayla was the first elf I was ever friends with. It's different drawing elves instead of humans but I think I do a decent job."

"Yer the best artist I know."

Runaan wanted to laugh at the flabbergasted and speechless expression the boy was making, like he was flustered that Rayla was complimenting him. He could remember Lain being the same way with Tiadrin when they were dating. Now he knew that Callum was completely head-over-heels for Rayla and that he would sooner harm himself than harm her in any way. That was all Runaan had ever wanted for his adopted daughter's future partner—someone who cared about her the way her family did and refused to let her get hurt.

And when the time came for Callum and Rayla to leave, the finished portrait (put in a frame) was hung above the couch with a promise from both young adults that they would be back to visit fairly soon.

None of them could wait.

* * *

**So…**

** Lackluster compared to chapter one, I know. But I waited so freaking long to upload this. To give you context, I started writing this between Christmas and New Year's and… yeah, it took a while. But Callum's family is up next and that should be longer.**

** So long and thanks for all the fish!**


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